1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to devices for supporting and restraining infants and babies, specifically to a device and method for use in vertically positioning infants and others who do not have the muscular control necessary to sit upright unassisted for extended periods of time. The device supports such infants in an essentially upright position so that the infants can more easily interact with people and objects adjacent to them. Applications may include, but are not limited to, use with infants between the approximate ages of three and eight months by workers in child care centers and nurseries so that the infants can be entertained by the activities of older children; by parents who have found themselves faced with the responsibility of raising twins, triplets, or even more infants at one time; by parents of a single infant when the parents need to accomplish tasks which would be impossible while holding a squirming or unhappy infant; and by those caring for children older than eight months who have medical conditions causing weakened muscular control that would not otherwise allow such children to sit upright on their own for extended periods of time.
2. Description of Prior Art
After an infant is two or three months old, it begins to acquire an awareness of its surroundings. Its vision becomes focused, it can begin to lift its head and look around, and in some instances three month old infants have made first attempts at rolling over. Yet this awareness is sometimes restricted and frustrated by a lack of muscular development, as well as the unavailability of an adult or older child to hold it or periodically move it to a new environment. Parents who want to encourage environmental interaction in an infant of this age, sometimes find themselves expending too much time and energy holding the infant in a vertical position on their lap or while standing, or frequently attending to the infant to change its position. The present invention would provide a means for propping up infants who enjoy sitting up and playing on the floor with toys, but cannot do so on their own and require the assistance of someone sitting behind them and holding them at the waist. With the present invention, an infant between the approximate ages of three and eight months can be propped up with toys and allowed to play independently. An adult or older children can also face the infant and hand it toys, as well as other objects, to entertain it.
An infant placed on its back can only see and directly interact with objects suspended above it, such as a mobile. Infants placed on their stomachs may raise their heads and look forward, but usually not for extended periods of time. Infants placed in rearwardly reclining positions in infant seats have an improved view of their environment over infants placed upon flat surfaces, but infants so placed in infant seats are still restricted in their ability to interact with nearby people and objects. Swings are also known to entertain infants, and even lull them to sleep, but unless the infants are put to sleep, they tend to tire of their isolated position. Also, children's booster and play seats, which are primarily designed for children who can sit upright unassisted, are ineffective to accomplish all of the functions of the present invention since they generally do not have a sufficiently wide restraining strap to support an infant during lateral reaching and which also prevents it from falling forward into an uncomfortable, non-interactive, and non-recoverable position; flexible padding configured as in the present invention to help support the infant in an upright position; sufficiently low sides to provide room for lateral reaching by the infant; and a sufficiently tall back to provide the necessary head and neck support for infants and others who cannot otherwise support their heads unaided for extended periods of time. Many booster and play seats also feature detachable front trays and interchangeable seat members of differing height dimensions which are unnecessary to fulfill the function of the present invention. Also, since booster seats and play seats only have narrow lap belts, infants without the muscular control to sit unaided for extended periods of time tend to fall forward in such seats into uncomfortable, non-recoverable positions. It is not known to have a bottomless infant support and restraining device which allows an infant between the approximate ages of three and eight months to sit upright on a flat surface near to an adult or other object so that an infant without the muscular development or control necessary to remain upright unassisted for extended periods of time can do so to actively and safely interact with its immediate surroundings.